1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die (21 page)

A Dutch Foothold, a Delaware First

Delaware

The little coastal town of Lewes prides itself on firsts. It’s “the first town in the first state,” the original settlement in what would become, in December 1787, the first state to ratify the new U.S. Constitution.

Originally founded in 1631, Lewes (pronounced LOO-is) began as a Dutch whaling station; that first settlement was annihilated in a dispute with the Siconese Indians, and a refortified, permanent town was established in 1659. The earliest of the many well-preserved, cypress-shingled buildings in the town go back almost as far: The ca. 1665 Ryves Holt House, a two-story former colonial inn, serving as Lewes Historical Society’s visitor center, is the oldest house in Delaware. Other historic buildings include a ca. 1700 early plank house in Swedish style, the handsome ca. 1720 Hiram Burton House, and an 1884 Coast Guard life-saving station. The maritime museum occupies the 1765 Cannonball House, so named because it was hit in the April 1813 British bombardment of the town. One of the most striking structures is the Zwaanendael Museum, built in 1931 to commemorate Lewes’s tricentennial and to house exhibits on the history of the area; the building is modeled after the
stadhuis
(city hall) of Hoorn, Holland, and features such distinctively Dutch design elements as a stepped gable, carved stone work, and decorated shutters.

The Zwaanendael Museum showcases the maritime history of Lewes and the surrounding area.

Lewes is an ideal walking town (include the short walk on the Savannah Road bridge over the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal), and there’s loads of great seafood, whether it’s grilled salmon on the porch at Striper Bites or the locally renowned crab cakes at Gilligan’s, a restaurant housed partially in a refurbished diving boat. Just east of town is Cape Henlopen State Park—one of the nation’s first public lands, a gift from William Penn in 1682. There you can see lighthouses (one dating to 1885) and WWII observation towers; watch for dolphins and whales or just stroll along the miles and miles of walking paths and ocean beaches to the sound of the waves and hovering gulls.

Lewes’s sign of hometown pride.

W
HERE:
86 miles southeast of Wilmington.
Visitor info:
Tel 877-465-3937 or 302-645-8073;
www.leweschamber.com
.
R
YVES
H
OLT
H
OUSE
: Tel 302-645-7670;
www.historiclewes.org
.
When:
daily, mid-June–early Oct; otherwise check website.
Z
WAANEN
D
AEL
M
USEUM
: Tel 302-645-1148;
www.history.delaware.gov/museums
.
When:
closed Mon.
S
TRIPER
B
ITES:
Tel 302-645-4657;
www.striperbites.com
.
Cost:
dinner $35.
G
ILLIGAN’S:
Tel 302-644-7230.
Cost:
dinner $40.
B
EST TIMES
: May–Sept for weather; 1st weekend in Oct for Boast the Coast and Coast Time festivals; 1st weekend after Thanksgiving for Christ mas events, tour of historical homes, and parade.

A Colonial Gem on the Delaware

Delaware

Like many places on the Eastern Seaboard, the Delaware River town of New Castle has plenty of old buildings to show for its long and rich history. Unlike the vast majority, however, New Castle is both an historic treasure
and a functioning town of some 5,000 residents. An exemplary model of historic preservation, its handsome 135-acre historic district has survived intact into the 21st century. The town dates to 1651, when Peter Stuyvesant founded it as Fort Casimir; it changed hands for more than 20 years as the Dutch, Swedes, and British captured and recaptured it. The British prevailed, and the new landlord, William Penn, first set foot on American soil when he landed in New Castle in 1682. A plaque near the site commemorates the event, and a statue of Penn stands near the Old Court House at the center of town.

You’ll want to visit the Old Court House, which served as the Colonial capital (1732–77) and briefly as Delaware’s State House until Dover became the capital. Be sure to peek at the old courtroom and the meeting room of the state assembly, where the Declaration of Independence was read. Pick up a brochure for the New Castle Heritage Trail to give you some guidance and background as you wander the brick sidewalks and cobblestone streets lined with centuries-old buildings. A main attraction is the Read House, the 22-room Federal-style home of a son of Declaration signer George Read (one of three signers from New Castle). Built in 1801 for the princely sum of $12,000 (about $2.5 million today), it features magnificent Palladian windows, rooms done up in a variety of period styles, and a Prohibition-era speakeasy, modeled after a German rathskeller, in the basement. The formal gardens, begun in 1847, are the oldest in the state.

Intended to be the largest house in Delaware, the 1801 Read House was a feat for its time.

You can also get a taste of history—literally—at Jessop’s Tavern, a cozy spot in a 1724 building in the heart of the historic district. The menu aims at authenticity with “Dutch cheeses, English pub fare, Swedish sauces, and old American dishes.” In more modern surroundings, you can sample the area’s marine bounty at the renowned Hadfield’s Seafood, a fish market and take-out joint.

W
HERE:
7 miles south of Wilmington.
Visitor info:
Tel 800-758-1550;
www.newcastlecity.net
.
O
LD
N
EW
C
ASTLE
C
OURT
H
OUSE:
Tel 302-323-4453.
When:
closed Mon.
R
EAD
H
OUSE AND
G
ARDEN
: Tel 302-322-8411;
www.hsd.org/read.htm
.
When:
closed Mon, Mar–Dec; closed Mon–Fri, Jan–Feb.
J
ESSOP’S
T
AVERN
: Tel 302-322-6111;
www.jessopstavern.com
.
Cost:
dinner $30.
H
ADFIELD’S
S
EAFOOD:
Tel 302-322-0900.
Cost:
dinner $12.
B
EST TIME:
Many private homes and gardens are open to the public on 3rd Sat in May
www.dayinoldnewcastle.org
).

All in the Family Fortune

Wilmington, Delaware

No state is more closely associated with a single family than the small state of Delaware. Since shortly after Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours fled the aftermath of the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century to settle
in the Brandywine Valley, the Du Ponts have been prominent in Delaware’s political and industrial landscape, and they’ve made many noteworthy contributions to the physical landscape as well. The first was the house and gunpowder factory established by Pierre’s son Eleuthère Irénée in 1802 on a beautiful wooded riverbank outside Wilmington; it grew into a 235-acre complex, and all of it is preserved today as the Hagley Museum. Visitors can take in such details as a fully functional 1875 machine shop, or in a more contemporary exhibit, they can try on a space suit or sit behind the wheel of the DuPont NASCAR #24. High above the Brandywine River is the tastefully appointed 1803 Eleutherian Mills, the first Du Pont home in America, which features memorabilia and, in the adjacent barn, antique autos from the Du Pont Motors car factory. Workers Hill offers a glimpse of employee life in the austere Gibbons House and Brandywine Manufacturers’ Sunday School.

A century after E. I. du Pont built his house, his great-grandson Alfred Irénée du Pont built one for himself in the area: Nemours, a 47,000-square-foot Louis XVI–style mansion on 300 acres, named after the family’s ancestral home south of Paris. It’s a gorgeous setting for unremitting extravagance. On exhibit are fine period furnishings; paintings dating back to the 15th century; and rare carpets, tapestries, and other examples of exquisite craftsmanship. Visitors can also have a look at his billiards room, bowling alley, and vintage Cadillacs, Buicks, and Rolls-Royces. As at other Du Pont properties, the formal gardens are superb. Nemours Mansion and Gardens can be seen only on guided tours.

Alfred’s cousin Pierre, former chief of both the DuPont company and General Motors, is famed for his Longwood estate (see p. 211) across the state line in Pennsylvania. He also created what is referred to simply as “the hotel”: the gilded Italianate Hotel du Pont, which opened in 1913 as grand lodging for visitors coming to Wilmington to do business with the corporation. A paean to European craftsmanship, this gracious Renaissance palazzo evokes the captains-of-industry era and the Du Ponts’ penchant for collecting.

H
AGLEY
M
USEUM:
Tel 302-658-2400;
www.hagley.org
.
When:
daily, mid-Mar–Dec; Sat–Sun, Jan–mid-Mar.
N
EMOURS:
Tel 800-651-6912 or 302-651-6912;
www.nemoursmansion.org
.
When:
curently closed for renovations; scheduled to reopen in May 2008.
H
OTEL DU
P
ONT:
Tel 800-441-9019 or 302-594-3100;
www.hoteldupont.com
.
Cost:
from $179 (off-peak), from $209 (peak).
B
EST TIME:
fall for spectacular foliage along the Brandywine.